Best Days of my Life
by Alphabet Pie
Summary: ... I don't care what the song says, these definitely aren't. Cliché high school fic. Marluxia meets an elusive transfer named Vexen. Stuff happens. Demyx and Axel are the bad guys: if you have a problem with that, don't read! Complete. 411, AkuDem.
1. Meet

Marluxia found Demyx sprawled out on the couch in the common room. He wasn't particularly looking for the boy, but he'd needed to get his school books and happened to notice him there. Nothing important about that, except there was someone else spread on top of him - Axel. They were flirting incredulously.

"Get a room, you two," Marluxia grimaced at the sight. They both ignored him.

"Ooh, Roxas is so gonna be pissed," Demyx laughed, playing with his partner's fiery hair. Axel joined in with the laughter.

"Seriously, if anyone sees, particularly Roxas, there will be hell to pay," Marluxia bent over to grab his bag. Again, he was ignored. Axel and Demyx were far too absorbed in each other. He left for the library, disgusted.

Marluxia hadn't known that Demyx was in with Axel; he'd never have thought that the red-head would give up his precious Roxas. He stalked the corridors, quietly seething. It wasn't like he'd ever admit it to anybody, but he'd had a crush on Demyx for years, almost ever since he'd met the boy. He was everything Marluxia wanted in a boyfriend: innocent, supportive, talented and carefree. Every time Demyx went out with someone new, Marluxia had to cover up his jealousy, he was used to that. But Axel?! Demyx deserved someone better than that whore.

The library was almost deserted, save for a lonesome looking blonde Marluxia didn't recognise. Even the librarian wasn't around.

He approached the stranger, sitting down a few seats down the table.

"Hi," He managed, trying not to think about the common room. "I don't recognise you. What's your name?"

The other turned away slightly, fiddling with his hair a little so it fell down in front of his face. It created a barrier between them. Obviously he didn't want to talk.

"Okay, well I'm Marluxia, by the way,"

"I know,"

"Oh, I see my reputation precedes me," Marluxia grinned, setting out his work. The messy scrawl of books, loose sheets and odd pens looked ridiculous next to the other boy's neat arrangement. He was given no reply. "One of Zexion's friends, are you? You look the same sort of type," Again, nothing.

Zexion was one of Demyx's past boyfriends. Marluxia didn't particularly know him except that he was (in Marluxia's opinion, anyway) antisocial and nerdy. He loathed Marluxia but that wasn't so uncommon; he wasn't exactly the most popular guy in the school.

The pink-haired boy continued to ramble as he began to work on his biology assignment. Eventually he finished and after contemplating the mess that was the essay, he packed up his stuff.

"Nice talking with you," He said to the mysterious student. "Well. At you." He happened to catch a glance at the other's work, and as he half-expected, it was immaculate. He muttered a small goodbye and wandered out a little nondirectionally.

As the corridors he knew so well wound around him or perhaps it was the other way around - recollections of the common room incident came rushing back. He felt like he was in an alternate reality. He'd never felt this bad about Demyx being with someone else before.

---

As usual Chemistry was dragging on and Marluxia couldn't help but drift off into his own dream world as he stared out of the window. He began to fabricate a story in his mind, where Demyx and Axel would break up, leaving Demyx single. He would comfort the boy when they were all alone in the dorms, and Demyx would turn around to him and say those three words that he longed to hear the most-

And then the strange blonde from yesterday would waltz in, complaining to the teacher that there weren't enough books in his class.

Marluxia snapped back to reality, glaring at the newcomer for infiltrating his daydream. The boy was underneath a huge stack of books, and wobbling slightly.

"Do you need help with that?" The teacher asked as he thoughtlessly piled yet more on.

"Please," The boy replied sarcastically, and the teacher called out for a volunteer. Irrationally, Marluxia put his hand up and soon found himself cradling a bundle of textbooks. He followed the blonde out of the classroom.

He allowed himself a glance at the books he was holding. They all looked awfully advanced.

"What year are you in?" He asked curiously as they turned into another corridor.

"Same as you," The other boy replied briskly.

"That's strange, I can't remember seeing you around before. You'd think I had, if we've been here four years together,"

The blonde looked at him with thinly veiled annoyance, and did not reply. He did not speak again until they were right outside the classroom door, as Marluxia returned the books.

"What's your name, anyway?" he asked one last time. The other boy peered over the books.

"Vexen," He near growled, glaring. Marluxia tried to smile.

"Thanks. Have a good day," The held up a hand as a peace sign, but Vexen's icy glare did not yield. Eventually he skittered off back to class, but the bell rang when he was only half way there. About to head off to the common rooms, his thoughts went back to yesterday - he'd seen Demyx and Axel flirting in a variety of places since then and was amazed that Roxas hadn't - and decided to spend lunch in a different location.

The school gardens weren't exactly fancy, as they received so much abuse and so little TLC, but it was at least a calm place to be without the possibility of seeing Demyx with Axel again. The place was deserted when Marluxia arrived, as usual, so that gave him free reign to tend the garden. He was on good terms with the caretaker, so he knew where she kept the key to the shed. He carefully removed it from the flowerpot it lived in and unlocked the door, taking out a watering can and filling it up.

Ten peaceful minutes went by before he was aware of another presence approaching. It was Roxas. Marluxia emptied out the last of the water from the watering can and replaced it, locking the door before Roxas entered the garden.

He looked miserable; he was on the verge of crying. He slumped onto the bench, head hanging. Marluxia came over and put his arm around Roxas's shoulder.

"He's such a fucking-" Roxas stopped, unable to think of a word obscene enough. "I mean, Demyx! Demyx! How is that slut better than me?"

Marluxia was surprised at how much Roxas seemed to loathe Demyx. It was understandable, since he had just stolen his boyfriend, but the hatred seemed to go further back than that.

"It's okay," Marluxia comforted the smaller boy. "If he left you, he doesn't deserve you anyway. He doesn't even deserve Demyx,"

"I guess," Roxas sniffed. "But he could have told me! But no, he just waits for me to overhear a conversation the day after it happens! Everyone knew except me!" His sadness turned to anger and his voice rose to the verge of shouting. "I can't believe I was so stupid to have loved him. I should have known he just wanted to get into my pants,"

"I think you should get revenge," Marluxia suggested.

"I'll get in trouble,"

"Not if they don't know it was you,"

"Of course they'll know it's me! Who's the person who hates him the most right now? Me!" Roxas exclaimed, exasperated.

"I hate him too," Marluxia said in the hopes it would help. "Anyway, just talking about revenge helps, even if you don't do it. How about putting something in his shampoo that makes all his hair fall out?"

"You can do that?" Roxas couldn't help but smile at the thought through his tears.

"Probably not, but it's a start. We could put green hair dye in it,"

"Green is his least favourite colour," Roxas admitted. "But he'd notice,"

"What if we put ants in his pants - literally? There's a red ant's nest in the field, we could collect a few and leave them in his underwear draw,"

"Strew all his underwear in the girls' dorm," Roxas grinned.

"Risky, but there are other places we can leave it," Marluxia contemplated. "The flagpole is a classic one,"

"In the pond?"

"Or the head teacher's office. I know how to get in there,"

"That's a good one. He'd get slaughtered for that,"

"Tonight?"

"Done."

They shared a high five, and Roxas stood up. "Thanks for that," He said. "I feel better now," He walked away.

Marluxia smiled to himself at the unexpected alliance. Now they would both be able to get their own back on Axel - one bird with two stones, as it were.

---

The office was cold and deserted at three o'clock in the morning, just as Marluxia had planned. He'd managed to weasel off Xigbar all the blind spots in the school camera network, so it was a simple task to reach the head's office. It overlooked the school playing field, with wide French windows. Of course cameras pointed directly to them, but they weren't looking at the next set of windows along - the Headmaster's bathroom which was connected directly to his office.

Marluxia quickly opened the window via the ventilation windows above and helped to push Roxas in with Axel's underpants.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" He whispered at Marluxia, who nodded.

"Quickly, before someone comes,"

Roxas slipped in, and returned a few moments later, grinning. Marluxia helped him out and they ran across the field, back to the dorms.

---

"So, I heard Axel got in trouble, again?" Someone was laughing in the corner.

"Yeah, and for once he's denying it. They found some of his pants in the Headmaster's office," Another student butted in.

"He's gonna be so screwed," Said a third. "He's such a retard,"

Marluxia couldn't help but grin wryly to himself. Axel's bad reputation had got him just where they wanted - the teachers all thought it was him, and nobody suspected that Roxas and Marluxia, both with pretty clean records, had done the dirty deed. He rounded the corner to his next class, and bumped into someone, spewing books everywhere. He quickly gathered his up as the other boy did the same.

It was Vexen, but Marluxia was beginning to expect that. He'd been popping up in so many different places, it was hard to believe that Marluxia had never met him before.

"Sorry," He apologised, offering to help the taller boy up. Vexen refused the hand, getting up by himself.

"Just watch where you're going next time," He grumbled, the first time he'd said more than a few words to Marluxia. The pink haired boy grinned lopsidedly. "I need to talk to you, anyway,"

He led Marluxia away from the busy corridor.

"What do you want?" Marluxia asked when he'd stopped. Vexen paused for a little while looking around to make sure nobody was looking.

"I wanted to congratulate you,"

"Me? What for?"

"For last night! I saw you go into the headmaster's study," Vexen said. "It was a great idea, I hope you don't get caught. Hopefully this'll get Axel off my back for a while,"

Marluxia was amazed. All that this mysterious student had done so far was give him cold words and harsh glares, but now Marluxia's revenge on Axel seemed to have had unexpected positive consequences.

"What's Axel done to you?" Marluxia asked, curious. Vexen rolled up his sleeve, showing a few nasty bruises.

"A few things. Him and Demyx get their kicks from beating up the weaker kids,"

"Demyx?" Marluxia was surprised again. "I can't imagine him doing stuff like that," He was horrified by Vexen's wounds. How could anyone be so mean?

"He covers it up by acting so innocent," Vexen's tone turned sour. "Nobody would believe me if I told them,"

Marluxia frowned. He'd always thought the world of Demyx, but it seemed that his kind and innocent personality was just a facade.

"Sorry, I noticed you seemed to like him," Vexen looked worried. "Just... Don't let anyone know I told you, right? They'll kill me,"

Marluxia nodded, and Vexen acknowledged that he could trust him to keep this secret.

"Anyway, I'd better get to class. See you around?"

Marluxia smiled, even though his thoughts were in turmoil.

"Hopefully,"

---

Demyx was alone in the dorms, because Axel had detention for his supposed prank. He was complaining to anyone who would listen.

"It wasn't him! I know it! He was here all night,"

"You're just making excuses," One of the other boys, tall and dark with long black dreadlocks, replied from the book he was reading.

"I bet it was Roxas,"

"Roxas was asleep all night," Marluxia lied at Demyx. "I would have woken up if he got up, he sleeps above me," He pointed to his bunk bed. Demyx glared at him.

"Nobody asked for your opinion," He growled. Marluxia glared back, before turning to his bags to unpack some things. He was beginning to notice Demyx's true personality hidden in masks of sugar. But when he looked back, the boy was laughing and joking almost as innocently as always. Where there two Demyxes or something? No one else seemed to have noticed the sudden change in personality.

A few minutes later, the old door creaked open on its rusty hinges, and Vexen stepped in.

"Oh. The new kid," Another boy, Saïx, laughed, throwing a skittle at him. Vexen dodged, returning his own missile - a cold glare.

"Woah, chill, dude," his friend Xigbar grinned, but was ignored.

Marluxia reverted his gaze which had landed on Vexen back to the other boys. Had he been looking at the world through rose tinted glasses or something? It seemed like everyone was a bully all of a sudden.

Vexen walked straight towards the spare bed, content to be forgotten by the other boys. As he set down his bag, Marluxia walked over to him.

"How long have you been here?" He asked the strange boy. "I never noticed you sleeping there,"

"Since the start of term," Vexen insisted.

"I would have seen you. My bed's right next to yours,"

"I've moved dorms,"

"Yeah, from the girls," Someone called. Vexen ignored them.

"The year above,"

"What were you doing there?" Marluxia continued to quiz the strange blonde. Vexen ignored him as he checked the bed for anything undesirable, then sat down stiffly.

"They bumped me up a year when I transferred," Vexen finally admitted. Marluxia was speechless. Just how intelligent was this boy? "But I didn't get on well with them, so they decided to put me with boys of my own age. Something tells me I'm not going to do so well here, either," He glanced back at the laughing, joking boys with a certain melancholy tone to his expression.

"You'll be fine," Marluxia replied. Sure, Vexen seemed to be a really strange boy, but so was he. "You've got me and Roxas,"

"What about me? Oh, hey Vexen," Roxas had come into the dorms. "I didn't know you were friends with Marluxia,"

"It's an Axel thing," Vexen said dryly. He'd gone back to unpacking his things into the left hand drawer underneath his bunk.

"Oh, you know about the whole underpants thing?" Roxas said in a whisper, perching on the bed.

"Wait. Roxas, you know Vexen?"

"Sure, he's in the book club in the library," Roxas said, louder than his last comment but still a little quieter than usual. Being in an academic club was usually something you kept your voice down about in a school like this. Marluxia was pretty surprised, though. He hadn't expected Roxas to be into that kind of thing. The conversation had moved on, and Marluxia found himself lost as Roxas revealed his true side - he was actually pretty nerdy - and was talking about something to Vexen.

Axel marched in, a scowl on his face. He was greeted perhaps a little too enthusiastically by Demyx, and Roxas stiffened, before turning away so he didn't have to face his ex. Marluxia, however, watched him stomp towards the shorter boy.

"Roxas," His tone was acid, and it made Roxas back away slightly on the bed. "If you think you can get away with this, you're wrong. I know it was you, you bastard,"

"Leave him alone, Axel," Vexen said quietly. He leant protectively towards Roxas, ready to support him if things turned nasty. "He didn't do anything,"

"You're hiding behind your geeky friends now, Roxas? That's low, even for you," Axel sneered.

"I'm not hiding behind anybody!"

"Sure. Well, if you aren't, fight me," Axel grinned suddenly. He knew that Roxas would be no match for him, even in a square fight. And he knew that to Roxas, this would be painfully obvious, very soon.

"You're not worth it," Roxas bit back, but his voice was small and he was trembling a little. Marluxia moved in to intercept Axel, ready to stick up for his new friend.

"Big words, Roxas. But I think your bark is worse than your bite,"

"Leave him alone!" Vexen snapped.

"What're you going to do about it? Throw a dictionary at me?" Axel sniped, attention turned away from Roxas for a brief moment. He didn't notice Vexen's fingers closing around the nearest book until too late. As it struck his head, he lost his balance, flailing in vain, and fell to the floor.

"No," Vexen glared, stiffly rising and picking the book, a heavy hardback volume. "A thesaurus,"

Infuriated and more than a little hurt, Axel pulled himself up, rubbing his head.

"Bastard! What did I ever do to you?"

"A few things. You might want to be careful about that, it could bruise. I suggest you apply pressure," Vexen was on a roll now. He pressed two fingers to Axel's wounded head, and the red haired boy howled in pain, stumbling back and toppling over a bag onto somebody's bed.

"Get away from me, you bloody psychopath!"

"Then I suggest you keep away from me and my friends,"

"You freak! It's not like you even have any friends!" Axel stood up and attempted to push the taller boy, but with a flick of long blonde hair, Vexen neatly sidestepped and sent Axel flying over to the other side of the room. In the stunned silence, somebody laughed.

"Good one, Axel,"

"Shut up!" Axel had regained his balance, but he was as red as his hair with a mixture of fury and embarrassment. "I'll get you for this," He vowed to Vexen, and then stalked out of the dorms to the bathroom. Demyx followed. Once the couple had gone, the room broke out into hurried talking and laughter.

"That was great, new kid!" Somebody called.

"Vexen," Someone else helpfully supplied.

"Whatever," The first person laughed.

Vexen sat down on his bed with a thump, inspecting the thesaurus for damage as if it had merely fallen on the floor.

"Well." He said. Marluxia and Roxas stared gormlessly at him, amazed. "What?"

"I just saw you in a whole new light," Roxas muttered. "I can't believe you actually had the guts to do that,"

"It's something I should have done a long time ago," Vexen replied. "Thanks. I don't know if I could have done it without you to back me up,"

"No problem. Seeing Axel's face like that is worth anything," Marluxia grinned.

"You realise he's declared war on us now?" Roxas said. "And we'll probably all get in trouble for this,"

But the matron came in just then, ordering them all to bed and silence.

* * *

Also known on DeviantArt as High School Drabble. This is organised a little differently, as in into actual chapters XD There's also an extra bit to the epilogue that you might be interested in reading if you've already read the DA version.


	2. Converse

Vexen wasn't even there when he woke up groggily at nine o'clock the next day. Most of the others were already awake, including Roxas who was dangling his legs off the side of his bed and probably reading. Marluxia pulled himself up to talk to the short boy.

"Where's Vexen?"

"He's gone to wash himself off," Roxas pointed to the door to the bathroom.

"What's he washing off?"

"Sharpie,"

"Nail polish remover gets it off," Marluxia helpfully advised.

"Yes, and I'm sure Vexen has a bottle of that in his bag,"

"He has a thesaurus; you never know what other wonders he might have," Marluxia had climbed up onto Roxas' bunk and was inspecting the book that the boy was reading. "What is that, anyway?" Roxas turned over to the front cover. The book was entirely black, with a pair of pale hands holding an apple on the front.

"It's a book Naminé wanted me to read. I can see why she likes it but it's not really my type of book,"

"What's it about?" Marluxia had never been one for reading, but he figured that if he was going to end up hanging around with Vexen and Roxas more, he should at least try to take an interest in their hobbies.

"Some girl who falls in love with a vampire in high school. And he's completely perfect. Beautiful, strong... pretty unrealistic."

"That's Twilight, right?" Vexen had come back, freshly cleaned and with only the faintest hints of writing on his face, arms and chest. He walked over to his bed, fumbling for a pair of trousers, and eventually pulled a pair of jeans on over his boxers.

"Nice butt," One of the other boys called at him, and the group on the other side of the dorms dissolved into laughter. "Pity about the face, though," Vexen didn't even bother to respond, putting on a loose pale blue shirt and pulling out a hairbrush, tugging it through his long hair. He turned to face Roxas and Marluxia as he did so, giving the latter a slightly confused look.

"Marluxia...?"

Marluxia realised that he'd been staring and turned away, colouring slightly, but Vexen wasn't letting him off the hook that easily. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, I was just thinking."

"Fine. I'll be in the library if you need me," Vexen collected up his books and left.

"Smooth," Roxas said once he was gone.

"Shut up," Marluxia punched the other boy lightly on the shoulder, frowning.

"You like him, don't you?"

"I don't know him," Marluxia protested, not wanting to give anything away, but his face had turned bright red by now. Roxas grinned at him and he gave up. "Fine. Sure. Yes. But he's probably not even gay,"

"When it comes to love, Vexen's about as experienced as a peanut, and probably even less observant," Roxas told him confidently.

"How do you know?"

"He told me once, when Zexion and Demyx split up,"

"Yes, but he noticed that I was staring at him,"

"He probably thought there was some sharpie still on his face. Anyway, you should make a move."

"No way!" Marluxia exclaimed. "We have just about nothing in common. Except hating Axel, which is nothing to base a relationship on. And anyway, there's still Demyx,"

"What about Demyx?" Roxas looked over his shoulder, but the cheerful musician wasn't around. Marluxia looked down, embarrassed.

"Well, I... I have a crush on him. For a long time,"

Roxas did a double take.

"Seriously?! What on earth did you see in him?!"

Marluxia thought about the question for a while. A few days ago, his answer would have been simple: he was sweet, caring, talented, supportive, helpful, cute. But none of those seemed to apply any more, and to say that they did would be stupid. He sighed, utterly confused.

"I don't know. I guess I just envied him, because he was popular," That seemed about plausible.

"A slut, more like," Roxas muttered. "Anyway, I'd go with Vexen any day, if I were you. Planning anything this weekend?"

"I might go down to the lake," The school owned some land next to the main campus, including a small lake surrounded in forest. It was open to the students, but not many people went there since it took a good half an hour trek to reach it.

"In this weather? Marluxia, it's pouring down out there!"

Marluxia looked out of the old windows of the dorm at the water droplets splattering and sliding down the surface of the glass. The water calmed and soothed him.

"I like rain," He murmured. "Come with me?"

"I think I'll pass," Roxas had turned back to his book and resumed reading. Marluxia sighed, jumping off the bed and fumbling around in the drawer beneath his bed for clothes.

"Suit yourself,"

"No sane person would go out in that downpour," Roxas defended.

"Whoever said I was sane?" Marluxia fired off his best savage grin, and Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"You're weird, Marluxia."

---

"There you are," Marluxia, now properly dressed, settled down next to Vexen on the long table. As he expected, the long haired boy was fastidiously working on an essay of some sort.

"I told you I was going to be in the library,"

Marluxia gave him a small glare for being so pedantic, but Vexen ignored it.

"Anyway. I'm going down to the lake, I was wondering if you wanted to come,"

"It's raining," Vexen pointed out. There wasn't much natural light in the dusty library, but you could still hear the constant pitter patter of rain on the roof.

"So? It's just water," Marluxia pouted. He wanted one of his friends to come with him for company, but he knew Larxene wouldn't come and he didn't want to stoop so low as to ask Luxord or worse, Hayner and Pence. He briefly wondered about Leon, but the odd boy had never really liked him much.

"It's cold," Vexen said, folding his textbook shut with a snap and opening up another one. He turned a page in his notepad and began to write again. "Why don't you ask Roxas?"

"He didn't want to come," Marluxia said.

"And I sympathise with him completely."

"Please?" Marluxia tried the begging approach. Vexen turned around and gave him a slightly disdainful look.

"You could always wait for a sunny day,"

"It's November. There won't be any of those any more for months," Marluxia pouted, realising now how much he was looking up at Vexen. It wasn't just that the blonde was taller than him, but he was also sitting a lot straighter in his chair than Marluxia, who was bent over like a hunchback. He kept staring at Vexen, trying to break down the icy barriers. Finally, Vexen turned back to his work, sighing.

"Fine. Fine. I'll just finish this and get my trainers, okay?"

"Yeah!" Marluxia scored. "Thanks, Vexen. I'll see you in the dorms," He wandered out of the library, a wide grin on his face.


	3. Rain

By the time they were ready to depart, the rain had subsided a little to a thick mist of lingering drizzle. And yet it was wetter still than the previous downpour, penetrating even the thickest of protection, seeping in everywhere. It only took a few minutes of trudging through the forest to thoroughly drench the two intrepid boys.

"I can't believe I let you pull me along," Vexen complained, dragging his feet a few metres behind Marluxia. The shorter boy shrugged, saying nothing. Without even a raincoat, his clothes were soaked to saturation point and his usually fluffy hair was plastered to his face, limp, lifeless and turned to a muddy brown by the water. "I could be back inside, in the _warm_, reading a book or something," Vexen continued, brushing past Marluxia who had stopped to move some low branches out of the way fro him. "Thanks. I'm sure there was supposed to be a proper path here."

"There is, but it's boring," Marluxia said. "It's way more interesting to follow the deer tracks,"

"This is ruining my trainers," Vexen fell behind again, stomping through some puddles with his once-white shoes. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"Positive. I come here loads," Marluxia was quick to reassure his new friend as they took turn after turn down the barely visible track through the undergrowth. It wasn't long before they came to a beautiful grassy clearing, turned even more brilliantly intense by the rain rather than insipid like the rest of the forest and the school campus. Marluxia stopped, crouching down in the lush grass.

"I've seen deer grazing here," He murmured. "Last spring,"

Vexen gave him a quizzical look.

"Surely not this close to the school? And wouldn't they have heard you?"

"We're at least a mile away. And you have to be really quiet, or else it scares them. But they're so beautiful. I wish I could take you to see them one day," He stood up again and they pressed on in silence.

"How big is the lake, anyway?" Vexen finally asked. They couldn't have been more than five minutes walk away by now.

"You haven't been there yet?" Marluxia was surprised. He knew he went more than most, but he was sure that trips had been organised there this term.

"I've only been here a couple of months," Vexen replied defensively. "Well, I guess I'll see in a minute anyway,"

"You're more talkative than I thought you were," Marluxia observed as he let the sodden blonde overtake once again, holding a thick tangle of brambles off the path.

"Sorry," Vexen grimaced to himself. "I just get carried away sometimes,"

"No, it's a good thing! God knows I could talk for England, I was just saying. I was worried that I'd be struggling to hold a conversation with you, but it looks like I'll be fine. It's easier to get to know someone if conversation flows naturally, you know?"

Marluxia wasn't oblivious to the oddly relieved expression on Vexen's face. He decided not to comment, simply following the new student across a tiny stream and up the last stretch of the path. They pushed through a line of trees and there was the lake.

The vast expanse of water seemed to stretch on for ever in the thick mist of the dark morning. It seemed to silence everything, even the quiet lapping of tiny waves at the edge of the lake, just a few metres away, were muffled and dim. Marluxia sat down on the sodden grass that was shielded by the rest of the forest, tugging his bag off his shoulders and setting it by his feet. Vexen joined him, realising that he was so wet that sitting on the rain-soaked ground would no longer make a difference. His companion was already opening his bag to pull something out.

"I brought lunch. Might be a bit wet," He passed Vexen a tinfoil package.

"I didn't think you were allowed food outside the canteen," Vexen glanced at his watch to check the time, surprised that it was nearing midday. He unwrapped the foil to find a (surprisingly) dry sandwich and a few biscuits inside.

"I'm on good terms with the cook. There's crisps and chocolate as well," Marluxia grinned. He was already tucking in to his lunch. "Great weather for a picnic, huh?"

Vexen glanced at the dismally bleak drizzle disrupting the usually calm surface of the lake, and then back at Marluxia.

"I assume you're being sarcastic," He muttered dryly as he folded the foil carefully to deflect as much of the wet as possible. Marluxia gave the weather a contented smile.

"I like rain. It's so soothing,"

"What about the cold? My fingers are practically numb,"

"I don't really mind it," Marluxia shrugged. There was a pause in the conversation as they both stopped to eat in silence. "So," The pink-haired boy set his rather wetter sandwich back down in its silvery case. "I don't really know you that well. What sort of stuff do you like?"

"I don't know," Vexen replied. "Science, I suppose,"

"I mean outside of school. Are you a video games type of person?" Marluxia could imagine Vexen hunched over a controller, focused intently on a flickering TV screen.

"No, I never really got into them. My parents didn't like me playing them,"

"That must suck!" Marluxia laughed, surprised. He would never have considered himself a hardcore gamer, but the rest of his family (especially his older brother) were pretty into them and he'd played a fair few in his time. "So what hobbies do you have?"

Vexen shrugged noncommittally, staring out across the lake. Marluxia decided he'd have to guess.

"Reading?"

"Occasionally,"

"Writing?"

"Not really,"

"Drawing?"

"I'm useless,"

"Sport?"

"God forbid,"

Marluxia wracked his brains.

"Martial Arts?"

"I'm sure I'd be awful if I tried,"

"Ballet?"

Vexen didn't even bother to reply to that one. Marluxia sighed.

"So what do you do in your free time?"

"I don't really have any. Once you take out work, eating and sleeping, there's not much left," Vexen said as he opened the packet of crisps that Marluxia had passed to him.

"Okay..." He tried a different tactic. "Favourites, then?"

"I'm very boring," Vexen warned him. Marluxia was tempted to say "I figured," but decided against it. He wanted to stay on good terms with the odd boy, after all. So he chose a different tactic.

"I'm sure you're more interesting than you make out. Colour?"

"I don't have one," Vexen received a slightly odd look from Marluxia. It was disbelieving, impatient and disapproving all in one expression. "Fine. Blue,"

"Animal?"

"Um... I don't really like animals. Polar bears, maybe. Penguins. Arctic things."

"Season?"

"Autumn, or winter but only if I'm inside,"

"Food?"

"I don't know. Anything,"

"Position for sex?" Marluxia asked cheekily, instantly regretting it and wondering if he'd stepped the line a little to far - but the appalled look on Vexen's face was _so_ worth it. It was a even few seconds before he found his voice again.

"Marluxia! That's disgusting!!"

"I kid, I kid. It's not like I've had sex yet or anything,"

"I should hope not! You're not even legal!"

"Only five months to go," Marluxia grinned, but his smile faded when he saw Vexen's revolted look. He awkwardly looked away, a little embarrassed at what he'd said.

"Is it my turn to ask you?" Vexen at least had the sense to change the subject.

"Fire away,"

"Okay...So, your favourite colour?"

"Don't laugh - pink,"

"They say pink is a very masculine colour," Vexen solemnly reassured him, but Marluxia was sure that he was laughing on the inside.

"Who do? The gay rights campaigners?"

"I wouldn't know," Vexen replied coolly, much to Marluxia's internal dismay. "Animal?"

"I would say butterflies, but you'd laugh at me. I like chinchillas. My mum had one once," There he went with the overly gay answers again. Sometimes Marluxia wished that his sexuality wasn't _quite_ so obvious.

"Season?"

"Spring. I like all the flowers - but that sounds gay too,"

"There's nothing wrong with being gay," Vexen said. He'd finished his crisps and had politely declined the chocolate. "What about food?"

"Cakes and things. I have a sweet tooth,"

"Cool," Vexen said, and the word sounded a little awkward coming from him. "So that just leaves sex positions, and I'm not even going to ask which sick, twisted part of your brain came up with that,"

"Good decision. It's a place better left unexplored," Marluxia replied, trying to brush the whole incident away. He briefly wondered how he could have been so stupid as to have said that, but then he wasn't to know that Vexen would be a total prude.

The rain began to pick up again, thudding mercilessly down onto the already saturated ground. Marluxia shivered.

"Maybe we should get back to the school," He admitted, teeth chattering slightly. Vexen nodded hastily, standing up.

"I'm still amazed that you managed to persuade me to come," He grumbled. Marluxia quickly ignored the sick, twisted part of his brain that was offering a very different alternate meaning to Vexen's sentence. Presumably the same part that had mentioned sex positions earlier. Marluxia tried to ignore that, too.

"It's because I'm so awesomely charismatic," He laughed as they wandered back into the forest.

"Perhaps," Vexen thoughtfully replied, evidently not having picked up on the joke. Marluxia glanced back at him wondering if the comment was sarcastic, but Vexen looked serious enough. He turned back, quietly pleased. They plodded on through the mud as the rain poured down harder and faster, soaking them more than Marluxia ever thought possible, until they were forced to dash from tree to tree to avoid the worst of it. They ran for some of the way, risking falling in the mud to keep away from the downpour. Eventually they had to stop, out of breath, underneath a still leafy evergreen, at least until the storm eased off. Far off in the distance, they could hear the rumble of thunder.

"Sorry," Marluxia apologised as they curled up in the cramped space beneath the tree. "I didn't think it would get this bad,"

"You should have checked the weather forecast," Vexen mumbled. "You must be freezing. You're turning blue,"

Marluxia looked at his numb fingers and shrugged.

"S'not that bad."

"Want to share my coat?"

"Sure,"

Vexen unzipped his coat, took one damp arm out of its protective sleeve and wrapped it around Marluxia, who shuffled closer to fit the coat around himself.

"You're shivering," Vexen observed, slightly concerned for Marluxia. His body was covered by nothing more than a t-shirt and flimsy jacket, which honestly wasn't enough to keep him warm in piercing weather like this.

"I'm fine," Marluxia reassured him. "I still have some chocolate left. That'll warm me up," He pulled his bag closer and unzipped it, rooting around for food.

"You have interestingly flawed logic," Vexen said, smiling slightly as Marluxia battled with the freezing chocolate. The storm raged on, gathering closer with every terrifying thunderbolt.

"I think it's going to pass right over us," Vexen whispered as the gap between each strike of lightning and thunder became shorter than the last. "How far back to school?"

"At least fifteen minutes walk, even in good weather," Marluxia replied, huddling up against Vexen's slightly warmer body. Vexen put his free arm around the smaller boy, and Marluxia shivered and let out a little sigh at his touch. "What's the time?" He asked. Vexen glanced at his watch.

"Coming up to two o'clock,"

"We might as well make a dash for it," Marluxia murmured. He gave Vexen back his coat and picked up his bag, standing a little awkwardly underneath the tree.

"Take the coat. You need it more than I do," Vexen insisted, shrugging it off and covering Marluxia's soaking shoulders.

It was a good half an hour before, cold, wet and covered in mud, they finally reached the school. The storm had caught up with them and was right above the campus as they hurried back into the dry to get clean and warm.

Vexen threw off his ruined clothes in the shower room, leaving just his boxers on as he grabbed his towel.

"I'm never going to let you take me out again," He muttered, watching a freshly-showered Marluxia attempt to detangle his messy pink hair.

"Not even in the summer?"

"I'm sure you'd manage to pick the one day that there was a tempest or something," Vexen slipped into one of the shower cubicles and soon there was the sound of running water.

"Oh come on! This was an exception. It doesn't usually get this bad!" Marluxia complained, trying very hard not to think about Vexen in the shower, wet and naked and-

He wasn't very successful in his attempts.

"One or other or both of us could have got hypothermia or worse," Vexen said over the noise of the shower.

"Yes, but we didn't. So it's okay,"

"You're too carefree,"

"And you're too paranoid-ouch!" Marluxia glared at the small tangle of hair he'd pulled out trying to untangle a knot.

"What's wrong?" Vexen asked.

"I just pulled half my hair out. Don't worry," Marluxia reassured him, pulling the hair out from his hairbrush and throwing it in the bin. He was about to say something else, but Roxas came in just then.

"I thought you guys might be here," He said. "It was kinda stupid for you to go out in that storm,"

"I put all the blame on Marluxia," Vexen called from his cubicle as Marluxia gave Roxas a sheepish look. The short blonde boy walked over to Marluxia, lowering his voice so Vexen wouldn't hear.

"How's it going with Vexen?"

Marluxia glanced over to the shower and shrugged a little sadly.

"He's not even gay,"

"Oh."

"I don't mind. We can still be friends. Don't tell him, please,"


	4. Beat

It wasn't until nearly three weeks later that Marluxia really got to talk with Vexen again. The odd boy was at best elusive and at worst impossible to find, so Marluxia barely even saw him after the storm. And Roxas had gone back to hanging out with his old friends Hayner, Pence and Olette once the adrenaline that had fuelled his impromptu alliance with Vexen and Marluxia had worn off.

It was early evening and the dorm rooms were nearly empty, aside from Marluxia. Everyone else had gone off to the theatre to see a film, but he had some homework to finish off so he'd decided to skip. He'd stolen Leon's iPod at least until he came back, and was listening to some strange screaming music whilst he worked.

He was just finishing off when Vexen limped in, drenched from head to toe and clutching one arm. His head was hanging and his long hair obscured his face from view.

"Vexen?" Marluxia quickly pulled his earphones out and hurried over to help the other boy out. "What happened to you?"

"A-Axel and Demyx again," Vexen coughed, slumping down on his bed. "Those bastards,"

"What did they do?"

Vexen looked up, revealing a black left eye and tear-smeared cheeks.

"They kicked me into the pond. I fell on my arm and it's starting to go numb,"

Marluxia made Vexen prise his hand away from his arm to inspect the damage. Through the pale and slightly translucent fabric of his shirt, he could see a large, nasty-looking red mark on Vexen's upper arm.

"Can I take your shirt off? It looks pretty bad," Marluxia bit his lip at how what he'd said could have been taken, but Vexen seemed oblivious. He began to unbutton the wet garment, showing more bruises speckling his torso and arms - Axel and Demyx seemed to have beaten him up pretty bad. He winced as Marluxia tried to touch the largest bruise on Vexen's shoulder. The pink haired boy quickly drew his hand away.

"I'll get the nurse. She'll know what to do,"

"No!" Vexen suddenly exclaimed. "You can't. She'll want to know what happened, and if I tell her they'll..." He trailed off, shuddering.

"You have to tell someone or they won't stop. You can't let them get away with things like this,"

"You don't get it," Vexen said, his voice laced with sadness and anger. "They can get away with it, and they always will."

"But if you did, they'd be expelled from school and then they won't trouble you again," Marluxia had fetched the first aid box from the toilets and was making an attempt to clean Vexen up a little. The poor blonde looked awful.

"I already tried that at my old school," Vexen muttered, and then squeaked when Marluxia pressed on him a little too hard.

"What happened?"

"I... They threw me out of a first floor window. I broke both my legs and spent a month in hospital,"

"That's horrible!!" Marluxia exclaimed, aghast. How could anybody be that cruel? Vexen just shrugged.

"It could have been worse. If I'd broken my neck I would be paralysed,"

"That's-" Marluxia didn't even want to think about it. It was horrible imagining Vexen lying helpless in a hospital bed, kept alive only by life-support machines. "Don't ever mention that again,"

"Hm. Don't tell anybody I told you, right?"

"My lips are sealed," But inside, Marluxia wished Vexen would tell somebody about how badly he was being bullied. It worried him, particularly since there was nothing his could do to help his new friend other than listen and understand each time he got beaten up. The next few minutes were silent as Marluxia rubbed antiseptic cream on what seemed like every part of Vexen's body (except a few certain parts that Marluxia had to carefully stamp images of him rubbing out of his mind).

"Marluxia?" Vexen finally said. His voice was quiet and a little sad.

"Yes?"

"You... You probably shouldn't hang round with me. They might decide to beat you up too,"

"Why do they hate you so much anyway?" Marluxia asked, refusing to answer Vexen's request. But then again, Vexen didn't know about the pink-haired boy's crush on him, so from his end it might not have seemed like such a bad thing.

Vexen didn't reply to Marluxia's question for a long time.

"Can we talk about something else?"

Marluxia gave him a long, slightly agitated look.

"No."

"Well... At my old school, the boy who bullied me the most was this guy called Reno... And it turns out he's Axel's brother. Of course Demyx got involved right away, he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to beat somebody senseless without worrying about being told on," Anger had taken over Vexen's tone of voice.

"That... But why can't you just tell a teacher? You could get Axel and Demyx expelled for this kind of thing,"

Vexen laughed bitterly.

"You know what, Marluxia? Let's just go and do that. You're so naive! Like anyone would ever believe _me_,"

"It's worth a-" Marluxia began, but he was interrupted.

"Think about it. Axel might be a total idiot, but he isn't usually violent. And Demyx? He's practically a model student in the eyes of the teachers. And what do I have? A bloody me-" He stopped himself. "-It doesn't matter. They'll just pat me on the head and tell me not to beat myself up over it all," He laughed again, and it was cold and angry and full of hidden resentment.

"I'm sorry," Was all that Marluxia could say. He wanted to ask what Vexen was going to have said, but he figured that it wasn't something that the other boy wanted him to know. Vexen sighed, though, shaking his head.

"It's alright. This isn't your fault; you were only trying to help. I shouldn't have lost my temper like that," The blonde seemed to deflate, slumping over to rest his elbows on his lap.

"Is there anything else you want? I might be able to weasel a cup of hot chocolate or two off the cook or-"

"Hot chocolate would be good, if it's not too much trouble,"

"Sure." Marluxia stood up to leave. "I'll be right back. You might want to get changed out of those wet clothes or something,"

Vexen nodded but just returned quietly to his brooding. Marluxia wandered out of the dorms, thinking just as hard. By the time he had returned with two mugs of steaming hot chocolate, Vexen had passed out on his bed, and was breathing slowly and deeply. Marluxia wasn't sure if he had the heart to wake him. But eventually he figured that Vexen would want his hot chocolate before it became cold chocolate, and gently shook him awake. They sat in silence again, both carefully sipping the warm beverage.

Marluxia felt so helpless. It seemed like this somehow wasn't a case where teachers could be told, and Marluxia himself would be far too weak to take on Axel and Demyx. Propaganda also would never work; the pair they were up against were popular with not only the student body but also the teachers. Sure, the pink-haired boy had been teased a bit before, but it was nothing compared to what Vexen was going through. For once he was entirely out of his depth.

"So when's your birthday?" Vexen asked, for once starting the conversation.

"What? Oh. Eleventh of April," Marluxia quickly replied. "Yours?"

"November fourth," Vexen said. "Interesting coincidence. Eleven-Four, Four-Eleven,"

"That was only a couple of weeks ago!" Marluxia exclaimed. "You should have told me,"

"I didn't think you'd be interested,"

"What day was it, anyway?" Marluxia said, mostly to himself as tried to calculate it. It couldn't have been long after he'd first met Vexen...

"It was the Saturday that you dragged me down to the lake," Vexen told him.

"Seriously? Damn, my birthday present to you sucked,"

Vexen gave him an amused look.

"It wasn't so bad. I don't mind talking to you,"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Marluxia smiled. "Still, I'll have to get you two presents next year to make up for it,"

"You don't have to get me anything," Vexen said quietly. "Anyway, I think I can hear the others coming. We'd better get to bed,"

Marluxia nodded, gathering his things and climbing over to his own bed. They were both tucked up and presumably fast asleep by the time the others piled in, just as exhausted.

---

"Whoever is staying in school for the Christmas break, will they please write their name down here, on this paper! If you are _staying_, please write your name," The teacher pointed angrily to an innocent form and a pen lying next to it, as if taking all his frustration out on it. Marluxia uncertainly stepped forward, studying the other names on the list before signing his own. Most of Axel and Demyx's group weren't there, which was a good thing. But then neither was Larxene's, or Vexen's. Marluxia guessed he'd be very lonely this Christmas.

Not that it was like this every year - he usually went home to his family, but this Christmas is just wasn't practical with all the badly-timed house renovations (they were supposed to be finished for Christmas but bad weather had delayed them) and his older sister was going to be in Japan anyway. So Marluxia had volunteered to stay at school this year. He didn't mind that much; Christmas was just another day in the year and he'd be able to spend plenty others with his family. He was about to walk off to class when he noticed Vexen timidly approaching.

"You staying too?" He asked conversationally.

"Yeah." Vexen picked up the pen and wrote his name in immaculate handwriting underneath Marluxia's scruffy signature.

"I'm going to miss my family," Marluxia tried to make friendly conversation, realising that Vexen wasn't in a helpful mood.

"Then I envy you," The taller boy said, and stalked off. Marluxia watched him leave, quietly.

He'd known Vexen for just over a month now, and it seemed like nothing had changed. If anything he was becoming more secluded from the rest of the student body, even more difficult to find. And Marluxia still didn't feel like he really knew Vexen at all.

"What's getting you this time?" He heard a high, feminine voice behind him and turned to find Larxene, pretty much his best friend. He shook his head, smiling again.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just missing my family a little," He hadn't told her about Vexen's problems; as much as he wanted to, he'd promised the other boy not to tell anyone.

"I don't understand why you didn't just go home. Nobody wants to stay in school for Christmas,"

"I don't want to get in the way," Marluxia explained. "Besides, it's not the whole family at home anyway. Dad might not be home in time and my big sister's in Japan, so..."

"You're way too selfless, you know that? I'd just say "screw that" and go home anyway. Well, best wishes. Who else is staying over?" She glanced at the list. "Ooh, Saïx. That bites - literally,"

"Vexen, as well. He's not so bad,"

"Got a bloody two-foot pole up his arse,"

"He's just a bit of a nerd. You get used to him after a while. Anyway, better get to class," He scurried away.

---

As the end of term drew tantalisingly closer, a trip was organised to give the pupils a Christmas shopping opportunity. It was planned for a Friday - a rare event since trips were usually during the weekends - and everybody seemed to be excitedly anticipating it. Marluxia was carefully making a list of things to get for his friends and family when Vexen stomped in with a sizable pile of books. He stormed past Marluxia and launched the books onto his bed, followed by himself, all the while mumbling angrily and incoherently to himself.

"You alright?" Marluxia felt inclined to ask after being given the privilege of seeing such a spectacular show of annoyance.

"Fine. Just fine. Bloody-! Argh!" Vexen threw himself back into his pillow, seemingly unable to form a word.

"Um."

"Don't. Whatever you were going to say. I'm in a very bad mood,"

"Might I just ask why?"

"Go ahead,"

"Why are you in a very bad mood?"

Vexen threw him one of the books. Curious, Marluxia opened it up. To find it absolutely _covered_ with ridiculously explicit photographs of near naked women in all kinds of improbable poses, all glued over the previous content of the book.

"Every single one! Filled! And now I'll have get an entire new set of text books! And what if someone _finds_ them?! They'll think I'm some kind of... sick pervert!" Vexen's voice rose to a shrill shriek as he gestured madly to the pile of books. There must have been at least fifteen.

"Just... peel them off. Sneak them into Axel's drawer or something." Marluxia attempted to remove a lady sprawled out over her bed, but she was firmly glued down.

"I already tried that. It doesn't work," Vexen glared down as if it was somehow his pillow's fault that all this had happened.

"Well, at least nobody will ever question your sexuality ever again," Marluxia reminded him, trying to find at least something positive about the situation. Vexen looked a little uncomfortable.

"Y-yeah. I guess. Um. Marluxia?"

"What?" He was still battling with the woman on the bed, and she was stubbornly refusing to yield. He tried a different angle, but to no avail.

"If I tell you something, can you promise not to tell anybody else? Ever?"

"Sure. You should know by now that I can keep secrets," He hadn't uttered anything to another living soul about Vexen's bullying problem, as much as he wanted to; not even his pillow whom he was sure had a life of its own.

"Yeah. But this one's different,"

"You can tell me anything," Marluxia assured him. Vexen took a deep breath.

"Well- I... Actually, never mind. It's too embarrassing,"

"I'm sure is isn't. Not half as embarrassing as that time Larxene swapped my deodorant with cheese a few years back,"

"She didn't!"

"We laugh about it now,"

"Okay.. Well, the thing is... I've never told anybody this, but..." Vexen's eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. "I think... Marluxia, I think I'm homosexual,"

About three million thoughts popped into Marluxia's mind at that precise moment. He took far to long to collect himself and Vexen was staring at him with an expression of diluted morbid fear on his face.

"Welcome to the club," He finally gave up with the bed lady and held his hand out for Vexen to shake. "Being gay isn't so bad, is it?"

"I... I guess not," Vexen said. "My dad doesn't like them. He says they should burn in hell,"

"Oh."


	5. Pain

Finally the end of term inched closer and so did the much-anticipated outing. Marluxia wished he could have said that the days flew by, but unfortunately they didn't. A dense, lingering drizzle descended over the school and quite possibly the country, and refused to shift. It did nothing to help the snail pace that the last few weeks of term seemed to be going at.

Their last lesson of Thursday was PE and, whilst most people seemed to hate it to the very core of their beings (excluding possibly Saïx but who ever knew what he was thinking anyway?), Marluxia didn't particularly mind it. He'd never been particularly strong, but he was fast, agile and accurate. Whilst he was rarely the first person to be picked for the team, he was never the last. Particularly not in hockey. Hockey was his game.

He was the third person to be called forwards by captain Axel, the second being Demyx since the pair had been disgustingly glued to the hip ever since they'd gone public (Vexen had been able to reveal that they'd been together a lot longer than even Roxas feared). As other people were picked for teams, he felt his mind wandering away from the lesson and past the astro, past the rugby field, past the line of trees that was the start of the forest. He briefly glanced up to see Vexen hurrying down the steps towards them. What was he doing here? Surely he should have been in a lesson of his own. Vexen spoke hurriedly to the teacher, then wandered in to join the group of people that had yet to be picked. Marluxia made eye contact with him.

_Why are you here?_

_I'll explain later._

Marluxia was barely even surprised that Vexen was the last to be picked for a team. What surprised him more was the fact that Axel was the one to choose him. Their odd looking team huddled together.

"Right." Said Axel. His team speech wasn't particularly inspiring.

"We go false-defensive. This team has a lot of small, fast players so we'll be able to sneak around the slower ones to score before they notice. Axel, Demyx, Leon, you take forward. Play on the offence. Keep the opponent busy. I'll go centre with Roxas. Everybody else stay back and defensive. Lexaeus in goal." Marluxia said, quickly before Axel could interrupt.

"Who asked you?" He snapped, but Demyx stopped him.

"Marluxia's good at hockey. Listen to him." It was the first compliment Marluxia had received from Demyx in a long time. The other was sometime last year when the musician had said Marluxia had nice hair (just after he'd first dyed it pink. He'd never gone back to brown). Axel nodded, annoyed.

"Any objections?" Marluxia asked. They all shook their heads. "Right, the main aim is to stop the other team scoring and hopefully we'll get a couple of goals in too. I shouldn't need to say this, but keep to your positions and keep your eye on the ball. Cover for each other. Okay?"

"Right. Now Marluxia's done playing captain, the real leader has a few words to say," Axel said. "Um. Go out and beat the other guys! They suck!"

---

Marluxia managed to save them from a draw a split second before the last whistle, and he exchanged a rather carried away high five with Roxas in light of their victory. As the other group tried to cheat and score another goal anyway, he ran over to Vexen, having been so busy during the game that he didn't get a chance to talk to him.

"So why are you in this group now?"

Vexen threw his hockey stick onto the pile and they walked up together towards the changing rooms.

"Well they decided that because I was getting trashed by the older kids, I'd be better off doing PE with "friends of my own age," Ha! It's not like I have any," He paused and added something else as an afterthought. "Except you. And maybe Roxas,"

"Roxas likes you," Marluxia assured Vexen. "It's just he doesn't hang around us much because he's got other friends,"

"Are you done talking about me?" A familiar voice said behind them. Marluxia near jumped out his skin in surprise, making Vexen smirk with amusement.

"Roxas!"

The boy had been helping to put the hockey sticks back and was late coming in. They went into the changing rooms together, Marluxia and Roxas chatting eagerly about the game. As Marluxia searched around for his shirt, he noticed Vexen collecting up his stuff.

"Where are you going?" He asked. Vexen gave him a pointed look.

"I have some new bruises I don't want anyone to see," He whispered, and then disappeared off into the toilets to change. Marluxia sighed. He hated this so much, seeing Vexen suffer, but he'd promised not to tell anyone and couldn't bear to betray Vexen's trust any more than see him in pain. Roxas sidled over, already half changed.

"Disappointed that you won't get to see Vexen in his underwear?" He joked.

"Shut up," Marluxia punched him on the shoulder, turning red despite himself.

"How's it going between you two, anyway? Sorry I haven't been around," Roxas said.

"Well..." Marluxia dithered for a minute. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but he's gay,"

"Really?"

"He was really embarrassed about admitting it. Said that he'd never told anyone else. Don't tell him I told you, okay?"

"Sure. Wow. You should make a move,"

"No way! I still don't know if he likes me back,"

"You're both staying for Christmas, right? Ask him then,"

"I don't want to ruin his Christmas,"

"Don't worry, I'll be there to back you up," Roxas assured him.

"You're staying?"

"Yeah. It's just for this year, because there was a fire at our house last week. Nothing too serious but it's not really liveable in right now,"

"I'm sorry to hear that,"

"Nah, it's okay. At least nobody got hurt, right?"

"Yeah. Who else is staying?"

"Thankfully not Demyx and Axel," Roxas glanced up to see the pair getting changed over in the corner. "God, I hate them so much. Anyway, I think Saïx is as well, but I don't talk to him much,"

"What about your other friends?"

Roxas shook his head. "Nope. I guess I'll be hanging around with you during the holiday,"

"Excellent," Vexen had returned, fully changed. He stretched, apparently pleased. "Finally, no more PE for two glorious weeks. Except maybe running away from angry mobs,"

"Heh... I know Marluxia's got a penchant for that,"

"Oh, come one! That was just this one time when- never mind," On the way out of the changing rooms, Marluxia walked straight into Lexaeus, the one who'd been in goal in hockey. "Ow.."

"Sorry," The tall boy rumbled. "Well done in hockey,"

"And you," Marluxia grinned, pleased with the congratulations. "You saved a lot of goals. But thank you,"

"Yeah, you should have seen the look on Axel's face when you went off on your team speech," Roxas added.

"Hrm," Lexaeus nodded and walked off.

"No offence to him, but he scares the hell out of me," Roxas muttered as they walked back through the drizzle to the dorm rooms. About half way there, Vexen peeled away towards the library.

"I have some work to finish, I'll see you later, okay?"

----

Finally, the year was waiting by the coaches to leave for their trip. Everybody had lists of presents and pockets full of money and eager anticipation to leave. Roxas was back with his usual friends, but he made sure to sit across from Vexen and Marluxia on the coach so they could talk. Well, Marluxia and Roxas could. Vexen had been even quieter than usual all day.

"Are you okay?" Marluxia asked as the coach set off with a cheer from most of the students. Vexen sighed.

"Yeah. I... um. I swapped my books for Axel's last night. The ones I could swap, anyway. I burned the other ones and asked for some more from the office,"

"Great!"

"No, what if he tells?"

"You don't know what he's talking about. Anyway, it couldn't have been you. It has stupid comments like "Vexen is a retard" in it, and you would have written "Axel is a retard","

"Yeah. I suppose so,"

---

"Come on, Vexen! You can't leave me!"

It was nearing the end of the day and to be fair, Vexen had dutifully followed Marluxia around the shopping centre all day as he picked off random items from his list. Now Vexen wanted Marluxia to wait for him as he got a present for the pink-haired boy.

"Just wait here. It won't take five minutes,"

Marluxia pouted.

"Fine,"

Vexen drifted off into the crowd and Marluxia swivelled back on the chair. He was in the cafe where everybody was supposed to meet at the end of the day, but of course nobody was here yet. He sighed, drumming his fingers on the table. Slowly as the minutes ticked by, people began to appear. Roxas and his group, laughing and joking. Seifer's gang. Axel and Demyx, flirting incredulously. Larxene and all her friends.

"Hey Mar," Larxene, weighed down with tons of bags, came over, grinning. "Got everything?"

"Pretty much, yeah. You?"

"Yep. Even something for you, and believe me, I dithered about it!"

"You're going to love yours,"

"Can I have it now?"

"No!"

The teachers called everything into order then, and called out the names to check everyone was there before they left.

"Where's Vexen?" Larxene asked.

"I dunno... he just went off to fetch a present for me. He said he'd only be five minutes but that was nearly half an hour ago. He must have been distracted or something."

"Marluxia, we were supposed to go round in pairs at least! You're going to get into trouble for letting him go off by himself. What if something happened to him?"

"He'll be fine," Marluxia mumbled, annoyed that Larxene had reminded him. But everybody else was here, and so should Vexen have been. Where was he?

"Does anybody know where Vexen is?" One of the teachers called over the crowd of chattering students. The ones who heard shook their heads, mumbled confused "No?"s and a few even asked who Vexen was, anyway. The minutes ticked on and a few teachers disappeared off to look for him. Eventually Roxas came over.

"Come on, Marluxia. You were the last person to see Vexen. Let's go find him," Roxas pulled Marluxia up and they ran off before the teachers noticed they were gone.

"Where do you think he's gone? He's never late for anything..."

"Except bed. He always comes in at about one or two in the morning," Roxas said.

"Yeah. It worries me,"

"Do you think he's getting bullied? I mean, he's so quiet and seems so sad all the time,"

They checked the bookshops first, and asked around to see if anyone had seen a tall boy with long blonde hair, but nobody had.

"I don't know... probably,"

"Did he mention anything to you?" Roxas asked. Marluxia didn't know what to say - betray Vexen's trust, or lie? They went around all the music stores, toy shops, clothes departments, cafes and restaurants, toilets... Vexen was nowhere to be found. "He might be outside. Let's check,"

"In the drizzle? He hates rain,"

"We've looked all over inside the centre," Roxas reasoned. "He has to be somewhere,"

So they slipped outside the huge double doors into the car park, calling Vexen's name.

"Where the hell is he?" Roxas exclaimed angrily when Vexen still didn't show.

"You don't think something happened to him, do you?" Marluxia asked fearfully. "I'll never forgive myself if he's hurt..."

"It wasn't your fault. You didn't know that he'd get lost," Roxas assured him. They'd taken temporary shelter inside the centre again, and were about to leave again when an announcement came up over the intercom.

_"Can Vexen Caulfield please report to the reception. Vexen Caulfield. If anybody has seen a teenage boy in school uniform with long blonde hair, can they please inform the desk. That is a teenage school boy with long blonde hair. Please report to the reception, Vexen Caulfield. Thank you for your time,"_

"They must not have been able to find him either, then," Roxas muttered. "Come on. We have a lot of ground to cover," And they dashed out into the rain again.

"Oh God! What if he's been abducted?" Marluxia exclaimed suddenly as they ran down the steps into the lower levels of the car park.

"I'm sure he's just lost," Roxas replied, but he sounded like he was beginning to panic as well.

"You don't think Axel and Demyx-" Marluxia stopped himself.

"What about Axel and Demyx?"

"Never mind,"

"No, what were you going to say?" Roxas stopped running, concerned.

"I said it was nothing. Just a stray thought," Marluxia carried on walking. Or at least, he tried. Roxas ran in front and grabbed his shoulders.

"Why did you bring Axel and Demyx up? Did they do something?"

"I promised Vexen I wouldn't tell," Marluxia finally said, staring at the floor.

"Tell who what?"

"Anybody. I promised,"

"You can tell me," Roxas said.

"I can't," Marluxia replied, refusing to look Roxas in the eye.

"Damnit, Marluxia! Vexen's my friend too! What did Axel and Demyx do?!"

"They... They've been bullying him. A lot. And-"

"Why the hell didn't you tell anyone?" Roxas demanded.

"I promised I wouldn't-"

"So you just sat back and let him get hurt?!"

"I-"

"Sorry. That was harsh. Look, if Axel and Demyx really did beat him up, we need to find him,"

"Y-yeah," Marluxia followed Roxas again, silently. What the short boy had said had really struck a nerve somewhere. How could he have just stood by all those times when Vexen came limping in with new bruises, or a black eye? He wanted to laugh. Claiming to love Vexen but never helping him.

"If you were Axel or Demyx, where would you take Vexen?" Roxas asked as they checked the last car park level.

"I don't know. They're pretty unoriginal so by the dustbins?"

"It's worth checking," And they broke into a run again, calling out Vexen's name. "Hopefully he'll be okay, but..." They ran around the side of the building into an alleyway filled with huge bins.

"Vexen?" Marluxia called out into the rain.

"Y-yeah?" The was a weak reply from behind one of the bins and Marluxia followed the voice. Vexen was propped up against the wall, bent over and bleeding.

"Oh my God. Oh God." Roxas was mumbling behind them. Marluxia knelt down and clutched Vexen's shaking hand.

"It's okay. Help is on the way. You'll be alright. What happened?"

Vexen smiled through his tears and it was sad, relieved, pained and bitter all in one expression.

"Guess who I met," He mumbled, and his words were slightly slurred.

"Who?"

Vexen grimaced.

"Reno,"

"Axel's brother Reno?"

"Y-yeah-" Vexen said, but he was cut off by a violent bout of coughing. Marluxia leaned over him, trying to get him into a more comfortable position, but Vexen kept falling limply back over onto his shoulder.

"Oh my God," Roxas said again.

"Roxas, go get one of the teachers. I'll stay with Vexen. Vexen?"

"I'm here..." Vexen mumbled, barely audible as Roxas dashed off.

"Roxas is getting help. You'll be okay. Nobody's going to hurt you anymore,"

"Mn..." Vexen breathing was rugged and he was wheezing.

"Just hold on, okay?"

"Y-...Hn..." Vexen coughed again and suddenly Marluxia's shoulder felt warm and wet. He glanced down. Blood. "I... I think h-he cracked one of... My ribs," Vexen whispered through painful gasps of air.

"Do you know where he went?" _Come on, where are the others?_

"...No... He just ran..." Vexen's words trailed off into inaudible mumbling.

"Hang on. You'll be okay," Marluxia pulled his damp blazer off and wrapped it around his shivering friend, to try and keep him warm. He drew him closer to his body, listening to the quiet sound of Vexen's shallow breathing.

"M-Marluxia?"

"Shhh, Vexen. Don't worry. Roxas'll be here soon,"

Vexen nodded weakly.

"I... I've had worse,"

"I don't want to think about that,"

Suddenly Roxas careered around the corner, panting.

"I found one of the teachers... And Lexaeus.... They're... calling an... ambulance,"

"Okay. Thanks."

"How is he?"

"I'm fine," Vexen tried to insist.

"He'll be okay. But he's cold and wet... we need to move him somewhere else," Marluxia told Roxas.

"I'm not sure we'll be able to without hurting him,"

"I can stand," Vexen said, trying to get up. Marluxia pushed him back down as gently as he could.

"No. You stay there. Help is on its way,"

"I know how injured I am!" Vexen exclaimed, struggling. "I can't let the teacher find me... What if they think I got into a fight? Let me go!" He pushed Marluxia out of the way and attempted to get onto his feet but stumbled and would have fallen if Roxas wasn't there to catch him.

"I think he's twisted his ankle or something," Marluxia said. "Where are the others?"

"They're on their way," Roxas replied. "It'll be okay," He helped to get Vexen sitting back on the floor, but the tall boy didn't seem to want to stay. "Vexen, stop struggling! Help is coming... Calm down! Don't panic,"

Vexen was shaking as tears streamed down his face. He was mumbling incoherently, staring wide-eyed at something only he could see.

"What's going on?" Roxas waved a hand in front of Vexen's face, to no response. "He's like... having a fit or something. Vexen? Vexen!!"

"Where is he?" Someone with a deep voice said from the mouth of the alley.

"Lexaeus! Finally! Where have you been?"

Lexaeus came over and knelt down by Vexen.

"What's he doing?"

"I don't know... He suddenly just starting shaking and staring and I don't know why... I'm scared," Marluxia admitted as Roxas tried to bring the panicked boy to his senses. "He wasn't like this before, it was so sudden..."

"We need to get him somewhere where the ambulance can reach him," Lexaeus said.

"Is it here?"

"It's on its way. I can lift him,"

"Not in the state he's in," Marluxia remarked. "Vexen? Vexen! Listen to me!" He made Vexen turn to face him. "Vexen! Snap out of it!" It seemed like Vexen was focusing on something behind Marluxia, but nobody was there. "Vexen! Get a grip, Goddamn it! You're not making this any easier for yourself!"

Vexen gasped, mouth hanging open in a silent scream. Tears mingled with the blood oozing from a cut on his cheek.

"It's like he's in a nightmare," Roxas whispered. There was fear in his voice.

"Wake up!" Marluxia yelled, shaking Vexen, trying to get him out. "Vexen!! Look at me! Please!"

"Mar... Marluxia?"

"Yeah, it's me. Calm down. You can do it,"

"Where are you?"

"I'm right here. Right in front of you,"

"I can't see... I can't see you. Where are you?"

"I'm here," Marluxia repeated, grabbing Vexen's hands and holding them tightly. "I'm not going to leave, okay?"

"Marluxia... I...." Vexen suddenly snapped back to reality, staring at Marluxia for a moment but then he slumped forwards, unconscious.

"Is he okay?" Roxas asked.

"I don't know," Marluxia replied, only now noticing that there were tears on his face. "Where are the teachers?"

"I can hear the sound of sirens in the distance. Come on, we need to move him,"

They managed to wrap Marluxia's blazer around Vexen's shoulders and Lexaeus picked him up and carried him out into the open, just as the teachers and a few of the centre assistants appeared. The sound of the sirens grew closer. Everything was a blur.

Vexen was loaded onto the ambulance as soon as it arrived, and Marluxia went on with him.

"Is he going to be okay?" Was the only thing he remembered asking. They told him he'd be fine but then they took him away in the hospital somewhere where Marluxia wasn't allowed to go.


	6. Confession

"Can I see him now?"

"He hasn't regained consciousness yet,"

"I want to see him anyway,"

"He needs to rest,"

"I won't wake him up,"

"Then why do you want to see him?"

"I want to check he's okay,"

"He's fine,"

"I want to see him,"

The doctor gave the stubborn boy an irritated look.

"You can only visit the patient outside visiting hours if you're close family or a doctor. You are neither,"

"I'm his best friend,"

"Then you can wait for him to wake up,"

"I want to be there for him when he does,"

"I'm sure he'll be fine without you,"

"He needs me," Marluxia protested.

"What he needs is medical care and a good long rest,"

"And me,"

"I think I know what's best for him,"

"Please?"

"No,"

"I won't disturb him," Marluxia promised. "I just want to see him,"

"You'll be better off coming back in a few days once he's had a chance to recover,"

"I want to be there helping him recover,"

"I'm sure he'll be able to just fine without you," The doctor patted Marluxia on the head. "Now you'd better run along now and get back to school,"

"I want to be with Vexen,"

"I'm afraid I can't let you into that room,"

"Why not?"

"Vexen's too ill too see anyone right now,"

"He's asleep. He can't see anyone,"

"Precisely. Come on, I need to go,"

"I've been waiting nearly six hours! I want to see him!" Marluxia stood up from the plastic hospital chair in protest. It wasn't too much to ask for, just to go in and see Vexen for a few minutes?

"I think it's time you went home," The doctor said. Come on,"

"Not until you let me see Vexen,"

"You can wait a few days more to see him,"

"Just five minutes. I want to talk to him,"

"He's unconscious,"

"At him then."

"You should be in bed. It's very late,"

"Don't change the subject,"

"I didn't,"

"Yes you did,"

"I don't want to argue,"

"Neither do I," Marluxia complained.

"So what is this little tiff all about, then?"

"I want to see Vexen,"

"Why?"

"Because he's my friend,"

"All his other friends have gone back to the school and are probably all tucked up in bed, and so should you be,"

"I'm special,"

"Why are you special?"

"I'm his best friend,"

"Are you now,"

"Yes! Now let me see him!" Marluxia exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but this goes against the hospital policy. Now you'll have to leave. It's very late,"

"I don't want to leave,"

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Come on, I'll show you to the door,"

"I can find it without your help," Marluxia glared, and finally picked up his bloody blazer and stormed off down the corridor. He heard the doctor sigh and walk off, and as soon as the stupid man was out of earshot, Marluxia crept back around the corner and down the empty hallway. Into Vexen's hospital ward.

The boy was looking pale, but better than when he'd been in the alleyway.

"Miss me?" Marluxia whispered. His hand found its way to Vexen's, and he held on to it as if somehow Vexen would know that he was there. "I was so worried about you. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let you go off on your own," He watched Vexen for a long time, listened to the blonde boy's steady breaths, his chest rising and falling with each breath. Next to him, a monitor bipped with each heartbeat.

"You look so sweet when you're sleeping," Marluxia murmured. "You look sweet anyway. I wish I could have been there for you. I'm sorry. I told Roxas about what Axel and Demyx did to you. Sorry, but he asked and I didn't want to lie to him. Well. I accidentally let slip and then he asked. But still. I hope you don't mind. It's all out in the open now, isn't it? Hopefully we can get Axel and Demyx away from you. I should have acted earlier. It might have saved you from being in the hospital. Roxas said something... How I just stood by and let you get hurt. I'm really sorry. I should have told someone that you were getting bullied anyway. Because breaking a promise is better than letting you get hurt... I'm glad you're going to be okay. I thought you might have died, when we were looking for you. I was so scared. They had an announcement trying to find you, did you hear that? Probably not, since you were outside... I don't think I've ever been so scared. I didn't know if you were dying or what when I saw you." Marluxia paused for a while, just watching Vexen sleep. Everything was silent, except the steady bip, bip, bip of the heart monitor.

"You're beautiful," He found himself whispering to the unconscious boy. "And you're so intelligent. I like being with you. I wish I could have been a better friend. I... I hope you'll forgive me for... for something. I don't know why I said that. I still hope we can stay friends. For telling Roxas, that's it. I hope you forgive me for telling Roxas. I told him you were gay too, because... It's a really long story. But I guess I've got time. I... Well, it's not really that long. Well Roxas noticed. He kept telling me to make a move, but I thought you weren't gay, and I couldn't exactly not tell him when I found out... Well, I'm making my move now, I guess. I love you, Vexen."

Half of him expected or maybe hoped that Vexen had woken up and heard, but the blonde boy just lay still, breathing deep and steady as always. Marluxia laid his head on the bed next to Vexen. "I love you so much... I'll never be able to tell you when you're awake, though. I'm too scared. You probably don't even see me that way. But I'm happy being friends with you. Even if I hardly know anything about you... except your favourite colour is blue. And... You know ages ago, you said that nobody would believe you because you had a something? And you stopped and never told me what it was? Well, I've always wondered what it could have been. But... I don't know if you'll ever tell me. I promise I won't tell Roxas this one if you do..." He yawned, exhausted. The clock on the wall told him that it was nearly midnight. "I should probably leave soon. But I don't want to. I want to stay with you, even if you're asleep," He smiled a little. "I'd laugh if you were actually awake and heard everything I said... Actually, I don't think I would. I've said some quite odd things. But I meant it all. I really love you,"

And he fell silent, breathing in time with Vexen. A few minutes later and he fell asleep.

---

When he woke up, Vexen wasn't sure where he was. What was the last thing he remembered?

Marluxia, panicked and sobbing, screaming in his face.

Reno, sneering at him from high up but next to him... falling....screaming... pain. Drizzle. Falling on the floor, Marluxia... where was he, anyway?

An ambulance. An ambulance was coming. So this must have been a hospital bed. Somebody was holding his hand. He slowly opened his eyes, squinting in the early morning light. A splash of pink was somewhere in his peripheral vision. Marluxia? He turned his head slightly, trying to see him. He was sitting in the chair next to his bed, slumped over with his head on the mattress. His hand was still clutching Vexen's.

"Marluxia?"

"Hrmm... What?" Marluxia's eyes flew open and he stared around, before settling down once he'd established where he was. "Vexen! Thank God you're okay,"

"What happened? I don't remember getting here,"

"You passed out in the alleyway. You had some kind of fit... I don't know. It's all a blur,"

"Thank you,"

"For what? I-"

"For finding me. And helping me,"

"I didn't think I helped much," Marluxia mumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"You did. Just being there for me was enough,"

"Really?" Marluxia smiled.

"Yeah. Um. Marluxia?"

"Yes?"

"I have another secret I want to tell you,"

"About that.. I'm not sure if-"

Vexen stopped him.

"If you interrupt I'll never be able to tell you. Ever,"

"Sorry,"

"It's okay," Vexen took a deep breath, preparing himself. "I've been meaning to tell you this for a while," Marluxia stayed silent, watching him with those deep blue eyes. "Well. I have a crush on you. I have for a long time. I thought you should know,"

"You... You're kidding," Marluxia finally said.

"That wasn't quite the response I expected," Vexen remarked. Part of him had hoped that Marluxia would have had a crush on him too, but that was kind of stupid. Vexen wasn't exactly the easiest person to get on with, after all. But he wanted Marluxia to know his feelings because... It didn't feel right to keep anything from the pink haired boy anymore. And anyway, his slightly bemused expression was really rather cute.

"I... " Marluxia seemed lost for words, so Vexen squeezed his hand a little.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I- You did not just say what I thought you said. There is no _way_,"

"I meant it. Sorry if I offended you,"

"No! It's not that, I just... I like you too. In that way," Marluxia explained. "I told you last night, but you were, um, asleep," He smiled at Vexen and saw, for the first time, Vexen smiling back with an expression that was neither bitter nor melancholy but genuinely happy.

"I love you," He whispered.

"I love you too,"


	7. Kiss

"No _way_."

A whole circle of faces glared expectantly at Vexen, who was sitting at the very edge of the room.

"The bottle's pointing right at you, Vex," Naminé pointed out. And indeed, it was. "Come on. It's only a kiss,"

"I'm not even playing!" Vexen exclaimed.

"Everyone's playing,"

"Just summon up some courage and kiss him. Jesus. Anyone would think you were homophobic or something,"

Vexen stared balefully at Marluxia, who shrugged, of course not so eager to wriggle out of having Vexen kiss him.

"Fine. Just a kiss. But there is no way I'm using my tongue,"

"Aw, come on! It's no fun without any tongue action,"

Vexen sought desperate help from Roxas, who simply grinned.

Roxas had been told everything about Vexen and Marluxia's feelings for each other, since he knew most of it anyway. He'd pressured them to start a relationship, but they'd both been reluctant and unanimously decided to leave it until sometime later. Nobody else knew.

Marluxia stood up and walked over to Vexen amongst the calls of "get out your phones!"

"It's just me," He muttered. "Anyone would think you'd been asked to kiss Mr Highwind or something,"

Vexen pulled a face as Marluxia sat down next to him.

"Come on! Snog him!"

Any other bloody night and he'd be sat comfortably somewhere in the confines of the library, or at the very least asleep, Vexen thought miserably as he leaned reluctantly closer to Marluxia.

He'd really, really wanted their first kiss to be somewhere romantic.

Suddenly fingers tangled into his hair and yanked him closer, and their lips met. Marluxia was already opening his mouth a little to let him in, and Vexen could have sworn he felt a flash of tongue against his.

Everybody was watching, and he swallowed down embarrassment to kiss back.

Marluxia moaned a little ot the cheers of the crowd, and leaned a little too much and they toppled down onto the floor, Marluxia still pressed against him, hands in his hair and tongue in his mouth and Vexen couldn't believe how good it felt and he wanted more-

"Okay, okay. That's enough. We don't want to traumatise poor Vexen too much," Somebody laughed, and Marluxia pulled away.

Vexen angrily wiped his mouth on his sleeve as he sat up again, blushing furiously.

"You enjoyed that way too much," He muttered in Marluxia's general direction.

"I wasn't the only one moaning," Marluxia replied airily as they spun the bottle again. If possible, Vexen's face became even redder.

"Anybody see a relationship blooming there?" One of the students was smirking as they rewatched the kiss on a camera phones.

"Marluxia was seriously getting in there,"

"Well, he is pretty much the gayest guy in our year,"

"Poor Vexen. I wouldn't want to be him,"

Suddenly, Vexen stood with an irritated sigh.

"I'm going to wash my mouth out," He announced, and swept out of the common room towards the bathroom.

Roxas flashed Marluxia a sympathetic look and received a shrug in return.

"Okay... Truth or dare?"

"Sure,"

"Okay, Saïx, you go first,"

"Dare,"

"Strip,"

"What?"

"You heard me. Right down to your boxers,"

"Pah! That's easy,"

"Take your boxers off too, then,"

"No thanks, I think I'll pass,"

"Heh... Nice snail trail,"

"Marluxia's turn next,"

"Kay... Truth or dare?"

"Truth,"

"Is it true you fancy Vexen?"

Marluxia glanced up in confusion as Roxas' question. The diminutive boy already knew the answer to that question; why would he ask?

He glared at the boy. Just to make him admit it in front of everybody else, and then it would spread like wildfire...

"Yes," He replied curtly.

"Seriously?!" Somebody exclaimed. "No wonder you were so passionate back then,"

"Oh, shut up,"

"Hey, can I put my clothes back on now?"

Marluxia excused himself from the common room after a few rounds to talk to Vexen.

He opened the door to the dorms.

"Vexen?"

"Marluxia? Is that you?"

"Yeah. You gone to bed already?"

"Yeah,"

Marluxia made his way to Vexen's bedside, and sat where he was pretty certain that the other boy wouldn't be.

"Are you okay?"

"What do you think?"

"Look, I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault," Vexen replied quietly, rolling over until his stomach was pressed up against his back. In the darkness, Marluxia leaned down to wrap his arms a little awkwardly around him. "I wouldn't mind, but I kind of wanted my first kiss to be romantic..."

"That was your first kiss?" Marluxia asked in surprise. "You should have said something..."

"What, and have everybody think I was some kind of vestal virgin, too?" Vexen huffed. "This is kind of uncomfortable." He continued, wriggling a little.

"Sorry," Marluxia apologised and let go, sitting back up again.

"I didn't mean for you to stop," Vexen replied sulkily, reaching out to pull Marluxia down once again. "Oh, what does it matter any more? Just come under the covers. It's warm here."

Marluxia was all too happy to comply.

They lay together for a few minutes, the silence comfortable.

"You know," Marluxia finally murmured, "Why don't we just go out? We both like each other..."

Vexen shrugged, tugging Marluxia a little bit closer.

"People will think that we did because we were forced to kiss each other," He mumbled.

"Everybody already knows that I fancy you,"

"They do?!"

"Truth or dare, just after you left."

"Oh."

"I really do love you,"

"Yeah, I love you too."

They kissed again but this time it really was romantic, beautiful, and somehow it didn't even matter that they were still curled up in each other's arms when the others wandered in.


End file.
